PV 3.0 Era, LONGi Solar Leading The Way

SHANGHAI, Aug. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At the upcoming Solar Power International trade show in Las Vegas, LONGi Solar, the world's largest manufacturer of monocrystalline solar cells & modules, will introduce its 300W+ solar module series, based on 60-cell standard modules with over 300W nominal power and 72-cell modules exceeding 360W.

This marks the entry into the PV 3.0 era, which is based on solar modules with nominal power ratings above 300W that are becoming available in large quantities this year, as the pioneers in production of high efficiency, high quality solar cells, such as mono PERC, are reaching GW-size production levels.

"PV 3.0 means that we are entering a phase that enables solar investors to use high efficiency, high quality and high energy yield crystalline modules of over 300 W nominal power for their solar installations," said Mr. Zhengguo Li, President and Founder of LONGi Group.

The PV 3.0 era follows on PV 2.0 and PV 1.0, which in simple terms, are defined as periods when modules had power ratings between 100 W and 300 W (PV 2.0), and solar panel power was below 100 W (PV 1.0). The nominal power rating has been the key differentiator of solar modules since their introduction in the 1950s - and that's what module customers pay for. High efficiency, high quality and high energy yield solar modules with power ratings above 300 W will enable sustainable solar system designs that provide competitive levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) generation.

LONGi Solar is currently ramping up the capacity of its vertically integrated solar cell/module factory in Malaysia to reach 600MW of monocrystalline silicon PERC capacity by the end of 2017 to serve its customers with tariff-free solar modules exceeding 300 W. In total, LONGi Solar's cell/module production capacity will reach 6.5 GW by the end of 2017.